And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
Parallel translations
- WEB In those days people will seek death, and will in no way find it. They will desire to die, and death will flee from them.
- BSB In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, but death will escape them.
- NKJV In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.
- NASB And in those days people will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death will flee from them!
- NLT In those days people will seek death but will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
People will long to die but death will elude them. The torment is so great that even death seems a desired escape that is withheld.
Overview
This describes a horror in which suffering offers no exit, recalling Job's anguish (Job 3:21) and the despair of the cursed. It exposes the misery of life apart from God when judgment falls. The verse soberly portrays the dead-end of sin, where even death cannot relieve. It magnifies, by contrast, the hope of the gospel, in which Christ has conquered death and offers life rather than unending torment (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Luke 23:30Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.
- Jer 8:3And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith the LORD of hosts.
- Rev 6:16And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
- Isa 2:19And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
- Hos 10:8The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.
- Job 7:15–16So that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life.
- Job 3:20–22Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul;
- 2 Sam 1:9He said unto me again, Stand, I pray thee, upon me, and slay me: for anguish is come upon me, because my life is yet whole in me.
- John 4:8–9(For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Revelation ends the story with the slain-yet-standing Lamb who is worthy, the Lion of Judah, the Alpha and Omega, the returning King who makes all things new and dwells with his people forever.
How Revelation 9:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.